Chee-ca-go, Part 2

So, I left off with us hitting the hay in our crime scene of a motel after a failed attempt at a night out for some fun. (Sheesh!)

DAY 2

We got up early because we need to catch a train into downtown Chicago. Mom and Marina got up before us to go get her son, Robert, from the naval base. So, we are introduced and then we take off. We get to the station and Katie's already cracking this guy up with her jokes. Then I accidentally called his uniform an "outfit" and then Katie called it a "costume," which we found funny. Anyway, so we get on the train and it takes an hour to get into town.

We get off the train in downtown and as soon as you step outside you can see why it's called the "windy city." That wind was no joke. In a matter of minutes my hair was all over the place. Oh well.... at least it's always straight. We proceeded to walk all over the place. We found Millenium Park and then Lake Michigan (which was so blue and nice). From there we found Buckingham Fountain which is breathtakingly huge. When the wind kicked up, the water would spray over on you and it was just like rain. Again, glad I have straight hair. It felt so good though because man was it hot and HUMID.

From there we finally caught a bus on our way to try to find Gino's Pizza. It was so nice to be in the air conditioner, but that bus was packed. Eventually people started getting off and we were one-by-one able to sit down. All but Robert. Even when the bus was almost completely empty, he refused to sit down. Such a gentleman! I'm telling you, now that I mention it, he was a gentlemen the entire time we were with him. I had to tell his momma later on that she raised a good guy.... Too bad he's only 21. lol!

Finally, after a looooong search and an even looooonger walk we found Gino's. We were so happy just to sit down. We all ordered our deep dish pizzas and when they finally came out it was worth all the searching and the wait. This pizza was delicious! It was too much, but it was good. =) We finished eating just in time for Robert to have to get back, so he and his mom said their goodbyes there and caught a cab back to the train station to get back to the base and we took off to the Sears Tower.


Okay. I'm stopping once again. Look for Part 3 soon....

Chee-ca-go, Part 1

Chicago was so awesome! It was a crazy trip full of ups and downs, yet I can't help but say that I had a great time!

Our flight into Midway was delayed and then, after picking up our rental car, we headed over to O'hare to pick up my mom's friend, Marina. We ended up waiting there around 2 hours until about 3:30 a.m. (Chicago time) for her luggage to arrive (which was on another flight). By the time we got to the disgusing rat trap that was our motel, we didn't hit our nasty, stained beds until 4:30 a.m., just as the sun was rising. The naval graduation was supposed to start at 6:00 a.m. Needless to say, Katie and I didn't make it to the graduation. =)

Um, so if you haven't picked up on it yet, our motel was gross. I've never stayed in a more putrid place. As I mentioned, the sheets were stained. Well, not only that but the "comforters" had bullet-sized holes in them, the towels were dingy, there was rat poison under Katie's bed, AND our air conditioner not only didn't work, but then at the end of our trip, exploded--gushing water everywhere. Horrible!

Okay back to the story....

DAY 1

We woke up at around 11 A.M. and decided to go into the city by ourselves while mom and Marina caught up on their sleep. The traffic was horrible and Katie noticed that only about 15 miles north of our motel was Wisconsin, so halfway to Chicago we turned around and headed to the home of That 70's Show. =) We literally began to get giddy. "Sandy is going to be so jealous," we said to each other. (She love That 70's Show and wants to go to Wisconsin desperately.)

We got over the border and lookey here... we see some Outlets. Score! We stop and take pics of the Welcome to Wisconsin sign to text message to Sandy. Muahaha! Then we decide we are going to go find ourselves some real Wisconsin cheese before we head back to the Outlets to check 'em out. We find a place (whose name escapes me all of a sudden), which is chock full of cheeses and crazy meats (I got buffalo meat sticks for my dad to try) and a bunch of souvenirs. It was awesome. Cheese curds.... mmmmmm....

We headed back towards the outlets. Yes! They have a Coach outlet. I'm so there. I ended up walking away with an awesome bag and wallet for a freakin steal! It was so cool. I totally love Wisconsin!

From there we headed back to the motel. We got there just as my mom and Marina were getting ready to head into Wisconsin to see a friend of Marina's. How funny. We were going to go to this Irish bar that we saw on our way in to have some fun. We get all dolled up, pay our cover charge, and head in. What a waste! We got the worse service and were treated like we weren't even there. Why? Because everyone in there was military and we weren't and they knew it. Yeah, we didn't stay there long. We headed back to Hotel of Horror and straight for bed...


Okay, that's enough for now. I'll continue with the story next time....

The Decade of Going Out of Town

Okay, so I'm going to Chicago this weekend (Thur. - Sun.). Should be fun. It's going to be mom, Katie, and me. I'm excited. For the first time in a while, one of my sisters will be coming along, so I should be able to at least go to a bar and not feel weird because I'm with my parents. =) I can't wait to have some famous Chicago deep dish pizza too and maybe go up the Sears Tower, which is still the tallest building in the country.

I started thinking back and I realized that this last decade, or at least since 2000, I have traveled A LOT! I'm very proud of that. Let's see, I've been to:

• Florida
• Hawaii
• Arizona (a few times)
• Mexico City (twice)
• New York
• Pennsylvania
• Canada
• England
• Ireland

And now Chicago this week and Denver in September.

Awesome. That's a whole lot of traveling (not including my many Vegas trips and some trips up to Oregon for family reunions). Hopefully before this decade is over, I can say that I've been to Italy, France, Spain, Greece, and/or Hawaii (again). At least 2 of those would be awesome.... even better if they were on a Honeymoon. (hint hint, God.... lol)

I love travelling!